Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren | Book Review

Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first women’s fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).The story of the heart can never be unwritten.
Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.
But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother…only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.
Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs.
As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.

➳A second chance at finding the honest truth but also, discovering the beauty of what friendship does to enhance a new romantic relationship between two soul mates…
➳I don’t think there are enough words to describe how soul-soothing amazing the words that Christina Lauren create bring to my life. It’s indeed very hard to find a novel that will not only connect with you in an entertainment kind of way, but also emotionally when it comes down to sensible topics such as second chances at finding the honesty of the past, family lose, finding a new family for comfort, and also being with the one true person that has showed tenderness, joy, and sadness all in one bundle since the moment you have met. That’s who Macy and Elliot are in this flashback of a romance story that fascinate and swoop you off your feet, making you not want to get up from whatever comfortable reading position you read in just so you find out what happens in the next chapter, and the chapter after that, and after that one, and after that one, and so on…

➳This romance novel is not like your any day romance novel that’s for sure. With the history that Elliot and Macy have, it is that same reason that makes this novel so worth of being enamored by it in ways that one would not expect. That one mystery that makes you question “what happened to them?” is always there as well, drawing you to the page and their flashbacks. The contentment between Elliot and Macy is there, even after years of not seeing each other, the warmth and recognition is still there. As an advocate of romances with possessive alpha males, love at first sight, strong held friendships that lead to a romantic affair (in the good way), and finding an ending that doesn’t lead you to questioning what happens next, I can declare this new CLo book a masterpiece that is no surprise to me will become a hit for many who adore their writing.

➳The emotional side of CLo has one hundred percent shown in this new novel, and to many may enjoy it, but it is indeed a romance that no one should pass along and forget about. It comforts you, it soothes you, it gravitates towards you to continue and enjoy the chemistry that Elliot and Macy have. The messages of the lose, the gain, and the remembrance of family is one that certainly makes you stop and think about what you truly have and the who are the people that surround and care for you. Personally, I have taken my family for granted for so many years, but with the presence of this novel I have succumbed to the realization that family will always be there, through the thick and thin, the enjoyable times and downfall times, and the confusing and understandable times, family will always be there to show us how love truly enhances in an individual.

➳Overall, this fictional romance novel that has gained so much of my respect this year and has become one of my favorites can officially be declared as a unique story that so many should read. Those who are fans of Christina Lauren and for those who are not but still rehash to the romance genre, Love and Other Words is a story filled with unique and unforgettable moments. Thank you to my favorite publishers at Gallery Books for providing an early copy that I will forever take advantage of re-reading over and over again.

➳ARC kindly provided by Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review…

About Christina Lauren:

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, named Amazon and Audible Romance of the Year, and been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. They have been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, People, O Magazine and more. Their third YA novel, Autoboyography was released in September, followed by a contemporary romance, Roomies in December, and their first Women’s Fiction, Love and Other Words in April.